GBI Tile + Stone

For over 25 years, GBI Tile + Stone has supplied hard surfaces to large retailers, construction companies, and distributors. In that time, the company evolved into a proven solutions-focused global partner, but its brand remained stuck in the 1990s - until now.

Challenges

In a commoditized marketplace driven by price and availability, real differentiation remains elusive.

Making the transition from a more organic, reactionary start-up culture to a growth-stage enterprise requires both internal and external perception shifts.

In an industry that remains relationship driven, traditional branding and marketing tactics may not be as effective.

insights

Although they sell a commoditized product, GBI differentiates itself by helping customers solve business challenges, value engineer, and save on costs.

A tile’s country of origin matters to distributors and retailers – but not to consumers.

Hard surface suppliers like GBI possess more in-depth product and application knowledge than architects and designers.

strategy

Distill GBI’s unique personality and value proposition into a functional brand platform that delivers a memorable, consistent experience across all customer touch points.

solution

Beginning with internal discovery sessions, a comprehensive competitor audit, and 1:1 shop-along research, we developed a new positioning paradigm that resonates with different target markets, as well as provides much needed internal alignment. Then, we developed an extensible corporate brand to embody GBI’s unique combination of value, style, and partnership. The result: a highly functional brand platform with template-based designs for collateral and an intuitive CMS for digital content.